DPRK calls for end of inter-Korea hostilities to prevent 'nuclear disaster'

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PYONGYANG, Jan. 16 -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday called for verbal and military provocations between the two sides of the Korean Peninsula to stop, and urged practical measures to be taken to prevent a "nuclear disaster," the official KCNA news agency reported.

The appeal was made by the National Defense Commission (NDC) in a three-point "important proposal" stating that inter-Korea relations could thaw, including on issues such as the families separated by war, if the two sides make concerted efforts to implement the proposals starting Jan. 30, Lunar New Year, said the KCNA.

The NDC urged South Korea to stop its annual military drills with the United States, ahead of the 2014 drills scheduled for late February.

The commission also stressed that the DPRK still wants denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, urging South Korea to abandon "Double Acts" - attaching itself to the United States while denying a nuclear deterrent to its "same nation," the DPRK.

"It is high time to terminate the vicious circle between the same nation and make amiable atmosphere," the proposal said, expecting an "echo" from South Korea.

On Wednesday, the DPRK's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said Seoul and Washington must cancel their annual military drills as they are "little short of the declaration of an all-out nuclear war."

South Korea claims the joint military drills are defensive in nature, but the DPRK denounced them as rehearsal for a northward invasion. Last year, the U.S. military mobilized B-52 strategic bombers and B-2 stealth bombers for the drills.

The committee warned of an "unimaginable holocaust and disaster" and a crisis in inter-Korean ties if "the rehearsal for a nuclear invasion into the DPRK" pushes on.

China said Thursday it hopes all relevant countries on the Korean Peninsula can exercise restraint.